The Great Wehyah
by Everhere Everthere
Summary: Ash's mother is attacked by some unknown intruder causing the entire gang, from both past and present, to reunite for the biggest showdown of their lives! Read and Review please.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not Pokemon or any of its characters….but if I did I can guran-damn-tee you that things on the show would be a _lot _different.

Chapter 1

Pallet Town. It was a very tiny, very quaint little plot of land located in the eastern part of the Kanto region. Most travelers who passed through this village were impressed the certain degree of charm it held, like its lovely green pastures or its adorable little town houses. Pretty much everyone had something nice to say about this little village. And it is primarily for this reason that we will begin our story here.

Delia Ketchum was busy working in the kitchen when she heard

the cries from her poke-servant Mimey (A Mr. Mime that helped her out around the house.)

"Mime! Mr. Mime!"

"What is it Mimey?" Delia asked. Mimey only acted this way for two reasons: 1. When Delia made him his favorite food as a reward for his hard days work or 2. When they had guests.

"Mime! Mime! Mr. Mime!"

Seeing as how she hadn't made anything yet, Delia deduced that someone must be coming up the road to her house. Sure enough, as soon as that thought had crossed her mind, the doorbell rang.

"Coming." Delia chirped. She couldn't imagine who was at the door (it was a Sunday after all) but she wasn't complaining. Since her son had left to be a Pokemon trainer she had always welcomed the extra company at her house. Sure, Mr. Mime was great sometimes, but you really can't beat the kind of company that can speak your own language.

The doorbell rang again just as Delia had gotten to the door. "Im coming." She said again, a little shrewder this time. As much as she loved company she didn't appreciate it when they got all rude and impatient and kept constantly ringing the doorbell.

Finally, she made it to the door. She opened expecting to see the old wisened face of Professor Oak, a pokemon researcher who also lived in Pallet. Or maybe even the young, slightly saddened looking face of Misty Waterflower, the gym leader of Cerulean City. She would visit her sometimes whenever she needed another girl to talk to.

However, the face at the door wasn't either Misty of Professor Oak. The face at the door was a face completely foreign to her.

"um, may I help you?" she asked in a slightly timid voice.

And that was the last thing Delia Ketchum remembered before blacking out completely.

The city of Cerulean was in no way like the town of Pallet. It was bigger for one thing, and for another it housed a Pokemon battling gym. This meant that all the whiny little beginning pokemon trainers from the region would be coming through to challenge the young gym leader.

Misty Waterflower laid on her bed in deep thought.

She hadn't had any challengers yet today so she was using that time to reminisce about the past years of her life. Just like she always did when she had nothing to keep her brain occupied.

Honestly she didn't know why she did this to herself. She knew that remembering all those adventures she used to have with her friends would just leaving her sad and miserable Just like always. She knew she would leave her room in a few hours, tears streaming down her face, and feeling like her Gyrados had just chomped a huge chunk of heart.

Sure it was great for awhile. She would bring out all the old scrapbooks, all her old photographs, and all her fondest memories. She would laugh at the picture of her Ash and Brock all giving each other rabbit ears during the festival at Maidens Peak, at the picture of those two Nidoran kissing that Tracey had drawn and given to her as present, or the the literally HUNDREDS of pictures of Brock getting rejected by someone or another.

However, she would always get to the section of the scrapbook that she knew would hurt and, as much as she wanted to, she knew she had to keep going.

First she would get to the pictures of Togepi (Togetic now) and those ones always moistened her eyes quite a bit. Her chest ached as she thought of her little egg pokemon that was now in the Mirage Kingdom presiding over the other Togepi.

She really, really missed her. She missed that little chirping sound she would make whenever she was pleased, the way that would she would cuddle up to her when she was scared, even the way she would waddle around in her shell.

But mostly she missed Togepi because after all that time of being thought of as her mother, she began to FEEL like her mother. And that day that she had to let her go, she really felt mothers grief in its purest form imaginable. She had cried for hours after that, and sometimes continued to even now.

But that grief was almost microscopic compared to the grief she felt each and every day knowing that HE wasn't in her life anymore. In fact, he was the entire reason she put herself through all that scrapbook torture in the first place. Just those few precious moments of seeing his face, his over confident smile, or his dark brown eyes that had her captivated from the get-go, allowed her to bask in the delusion that she was travelling with HIM. Ash Ketchum. That they were together again. And most importantly, they were happy.

But, sadly, that euphoric feeling only lasted for awhile and soon, reality would rear its ugly head. She would be pulled away from her fantasy land and back to the real world…the world without him in it.

She slammed the scrapbook shut, a few, of what was most likely many, tears fell down onto her cheeks.

"I don't understand" She sobbed into her pillow. "Why doesn't her ever try to make contact with me? I send him e-mails and try to call him all the time and I never get so much as birthday card!"

She continued crying when she was interrupted by the telephone ringing.

"Ring, ring, ring! Ring, ring, ring! Phone Call! Phone Call!"

She got up from her bed, wiping her eyes as she did so. She never let anyone see her cry, that was just the natural tomboy in her. To the outside world, Misty Waterflower looked as tough as a lumberjack on steroids.

Misty went over to the phone and answered it. Much to her surprise, Tracey, an old friend she used to travel with appeared on the screen.

"Oh hey Trace! What's Up?" she said.

"Misty! I'm so glad I caught you! I really need to speak with you!" he said, a frantic look in his eye.

Mistys heart stopped. The only reason Tracey would be acting like this would be because someone she knew was in trouble or hurt. Her mind immediately went to her sisters. "What's wrong Tracey? Did something happen to Daisy? Or Lily? Or Vi?"

"No, no, no there all fine. They're here in Pallet Town actually, which is the reason I called."

Misty got terrified all over again. Pallet Town is where Ash was from. As much as it seemed like he didn't care for her at all she didn't know how she could go on if something happened to him. "Oh my god, Tracy! What's going on!? Tell me!" her voice was close to tears now.

"It's Delia!" He said. "Some whacko busted into her home and hit over her head! Tore the whole house up! She's in the hospital with a concussion!"

Misty placed a hand over her mouth. Delia Ketchum was like a mother to her. She had always been there for her whenever she needed some other girl to talk to. She didn't have a mother herself so Delia was the only she trusted in letting her know her feelings about Ash. Since she was Ash's mother she seemed like the prime candidate for a confidante about the situation.

"Oh my God!" Misty gasped "Tracey, is she all right!?"

Tracey nodded. "She'll be fine, but still she could use the help. I was wondering if you could maybe come down here for a few days? Just to help her get things sorted out?"

Without a moment's hesitation Misty responded: "Of course, Tracey! Just let me close down the gym for a few days and get ready and I'll be in pallet before you know it!"

"That's great Misty" he said "I'll see you when we you get down here."

He was about to hang up, when suddenly a thought occurred to him.

"Hey, Misty." He said.

"Yeah?"

"You know, with his mom being in the hospital and all that means Ash will probably be down her for a few days…..now that's something to think about, isn't it?

Her heart skipped a beat. She hadn't thought about that. Surely, with his mom in the condition that she was in he'd have to stop his travels to come see her. Maybe Delia getting hurt was a good thing…

She was ashamed of the thought immediately. How she could she think that about Delia? The woman who had been so kind to her, the woman whom she had trusted her most intimate thoughts with, this woman who was like a mother to her?

During all this thought process going on in her head Misty had forgotten she was still on the phone with Tracey. She looked back at him to see that he was smiling.

She quickly tried to recover. "Oh….uh…yeah. You know I uh..didnt even think about that. Um…that's cool I guess."

Tracey smiled a knowing smile. It was so cute how obvious he feelings toward Ash were, but out of respect for his friends privacy he never mentioned anything about it.

"Ok Misty. I'll see you when you get down here."

And with that he hung up.

"Phew." Misty thought. "That was a close one."

As she gathered up her things to pack she began to think about Ash again. Only to shortly criticize herself for getting her hopes up. After all, if he cant even make the time to call her why would ever want her the way she wanted him.

The tears started to fall again but she wiped them away. She had to be strong for Delia and all the other people there waiting by her side. But, more importantly she knew that Ash Ketchum seeing her cry was something that she would never EVER allow.

And with that she packed all her necessities into her knapsack and walked out the door.

This is the end of the first chapter of a pokemon epic I started a while back. I hope you guys like it.

Everhere Everthere


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Do not own Pokemon. That honor belongs to Japan.

**Chapter 2**

**Ash Ketchum had always found the gentle sea breeze on his face very soothing. **

**He had first discovered this aboard the St. Anne, a deluxe cruise ship he had taken with Misty and Brock when he was travelling in the Kanto region that had wound up sinking, and fell in love with the feeling.**

**That was one of the reasons he loved his time in the Orange Islands so much. He got to feel that sensational feeling almost every day while travelling to new islands to battle other trainers.**

**He remembered a conversation he had with his friend Misty about the ocean once. **

**This conversation really stuck out in his mind because it wasn't at all like the conservations he used to have with Misty. There was no fighting, no yelling, and not one glimpse of her trademark ( and rather painful) mallet were seen. **

**(Flashback)**

**Ash was staring off into the horizon, the last traces of Trovita Island were starting to disappear. He smiled as he fingered his recently acquired Spike Shell badge. This badge had been quite difficult to win. Rudy, the Trovita Island gym leader, was one tough customer. He had even taught his Starmie to do an electric attack which had almost cost him the battle. But, his Squirtle had pulled through and they had won the match and the badge!**

**However, now that they had left the Island he was beginning to notice something. After they had all had their goodbyes with Rudy, Misty had been unusually quiet. She was just sitting there on Lapras's back staring off into the distance.**

**Ash never had been good with the whole "talking to people thing" but this was his best friend here and she didn't look to happy. He scooted himself over to her side and sat down beside her.**

"**Hey" Ash said**

"**Hey" she replied**

**There was a bit of a silence after that as Ash didn't really know what to say next.**

**He was about to ask her what was wrong when she broke the silence.**

"**It's beautiful, isn't it?" She said.**

**Ash grinned. "I'll say it is! It's gotta be the most beautiful thing ever!"**

**Misty gasped and looked up. Was this really Ash Kethcum talking? Was there actually some romance in the abnormally thick skull of his?**

"**You – you really think so Ash?"**

"**Yeah, Misty look at it!" Then he opened up his hand to show her his new badge. "Isn't it great!? It's by far the prettiest badge in my collection and it was also one of the hardest to win!!"**

**Misty fell over in the way that all the characters did. Naturally, her first reactions was to take out her mallet, hit him with it, and call him a culturally deprived, un-romantic, immature, little creep but at the last moment decided against it. For some reason she just didn't feel up to starting an argument right then.**

**So she got up and said very calmly "No, Ash. I was talking about the Ocean."**

"**The Ocean? What's so pretty about a bunch of water?"**

**Misty giggled at this "It's just a bunch of water Ash it's a big, blue masterpiece. Look, at the way the sun reflects off of the surface, it makes the whole thing sparkle like a gigantic diamond. It really takes my breath away."**

**Ash looked out over the ocean. She had a point. Wherever the setting sun touched any part of the surface, the whole section just lit up and sparkled. Maybe this was the reason she liked water pokemon so much.**

**Ash turned around to tell her that, when all of a sudden something caught his eye. As she was looking out into the ocean Misty's eyes were sparkling just as much the ocean was. Ash had never noticed before but her eyes were the prettiest shade of blue he had ever seen.**

**Ash stared at her for a few moments longer before snapping himself out of it. He didn't want misty to get mad at him for staring at her.**

"**Hey, Misty?" he asked**

"**Yes, Ash?"**

"**Can I ask you something?"**

"**Sure, Ash. Go ahead."**

"**Do you remember back on Trovita when you were spending all your time with Rudy, and he invited you to stay there with him?"**

"**Well, considering we just left Trovita I'd say that does seem to ring a bell."**

**Ash smiled at that. Misty's sarcasm was one thing he really liked about her.**

"**Well, um, why didn't you?"**

"**Why didn't I what, Ash?"**

"**Stay with Rudy. On the Island."**

**Misty looked at him for a moment. He really WAS that dense. No matter how many hints she would throw his way never ever seemed to strike a chord in that rock hard head of his.**

"**You really don't know..do you?"**

**Ash was taken aback by this question. Of course he didn't know that's why he was asking.**

"**No Misty, I have no idea."**

**Misty smiled again. "Well that, Ash Ketchum, is something you're going to have to find out on your own."**

**And with that Misty lay down on his shoulder and closed her eyes.**

**Ash was more confused now than he usually was. "What does she mean I have to find out for myself? Why can't she just tell me? "Hey Misty, what does that mean? You can't just leave me here guessing like that!"**

**But she was already fast asleep.**

**(End Flashback)**

**Ash had played that conversation over in his head more times than he could count, and he still had no idea what Misty meant when she said that. It had been increasingly bothering him lately, and he really wasn't sure why. The incident in question had happened well over three years ago so shouldn't he have buried in his mind like he did with everything else?**

**On more than one occasion he had been tempted to call or e-mail Misty and ask her himself, but two things were holding him back. One was that he wasn't one hundred percent sure how to use all this technological stuff, that was more Dawn's forte (and he wasn't about to ask her for help). Another was that he didn't think really wanted to talk to him anymore. He hadn't seen her since that little adventure she they had in the Mirage Kingdom. It was about that he started Misty…differently.**

**He didn't know how to explain it, but for some reason he no longer saw her as feisty, short-tempered, best-friend, he saw her as....well he wasn't sure what he saw her as. He had tried to ask Brock one night but Brock response was just as vague as that one from Misty.**

"**It's about time." He had said. "I was beginning to think you were NEVER going to grow up and realize what was really going on."**

"**What are you talking about?" Ash had responded "What's really going on?"**

**Brock just chuckled "That's something you're going to have to figure out yourself."**

**Ash frowned to himself. He looked over at Brock who was talking excitedly with Dawn, Pilpup, and Pikachu. He glared at Brock. Why couldn't anyone give him a straight answer? Was there some piece to this puzzle that he couldn't see but that everyone else could? **

**He thought that he might have to talk to his mom about it next time he saw her…**

**His mom.**

**All of a sudden Ash was thrown out of his thoughts as remembered the reason they were on this boat bound for the Kanto region in the first place.**

**Earlier that day, he had gotten an urgent call for Professor Oak saying that his mom had been hit over the head by some nut job and had torn their house completely apart.**

**Worry filled Ash for a split second only to be instantly replaced by anger and hatred. If he ever found the son-of-a-bitch who had done that to his mom there would be absolute hell to pay.**

**Ash's angry thoughts were interrupted by a voice over the loudspeaker**

"**Now docking..Now docking…Vermillion City…Kanto Region…Now docking, Vermillion City, Kanto Region."**

**Ash stood up. They had made to the port in Vermillion and the plan was from there to go straight to Viridian City where his mom was in the hospital. Dawn and Brock maneuvered they way over to Ash.**

"**Allright Ash, here we are." Brock said "Do you want to stop and get some food before we head out."**

**For once in his life Ash was not in the mood to eat. "No Brock" he said "My moms in the hospital and I wont stop until I see for myself that shes allright."**

**Dawn and Brock exchanged worried glances. They knew that there were only two people Ash would refuse food for. His mother…and a certain red-headed gym leader.**

"**Okay Ash. Were with you!" said Dawn "Right Pilpup?"**

"**Pip, Pilpup!" said Pilpup.**

"**Chu!" said Pikachu, Ash's best non-human friend. Which everyone took to mean "I'm with you all the way, amigo!"**

"**Thanks you guys." Ash said "It really means a lot that you came out here to do this with me."**

"**It's our pleasure." Said Brock "After all, what are friends for?"**

**Ash nodded toward them, not wanting to talk for fear of his emotions giving him away.**

**And with that the three trainers and their pokemon headed off to Viridian City.**

**Misty Waterflower had just left Cerulean City after what seemed like hours since Tracey's phone call.**

**It had seemed to her that ever since she had hung up the phone everything had started going wrong. **

**First, she had to go about locking up the gym and closing it for a few days, which proved to be difficult because she had to go about the task rounding up all the pokemon and cancelling any major appointments.**

**Once that was accomplished she left the gym and was about thirty paces out when she realized she forgot to pack any extra clothes. She didn't know how long she was going to be in Viridian City and didn't want to be in the same old outfit for very long. Upon thinking this, she began wondering why all of a sudden it mattered what she wore now, even though she was travelling with Ash it seemed like they always wore the same outfit day in and day out.**

**Brushing these thoughts aside she quickly packed some extra clothes and headed out the door.**

**This time she had made to about the Cerulean City limits when she realized she left her Azurill at home. She quickly dashed back to her house, picked up her little blue water mouse pokemon and her gym for the THIRD time.**

"**So far this trip isn't turning out too great" she thought "I really hope it gets better when I finally see Ash again."**

**She looked out over the landscape of the land she was just about to traverse and thought to herself: **_**I'm going to see you soon, Ash Ketchum. I only hope you'll like what you see.**_

**Finally she made it once again to the Cerulean City limits and, without looking back, she walked off into the sunset.**

**So this is Chapter 2…I actually wrote this about a five months ago so I have about three or four chapters I never published…just in case you were wondering.**

**Everhere Everthere**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Do not own Pokemon**

**Chapter 3**

A young, blue-haired girl was, for what she thought was the thirtieth, standing with her hands on her knees panting for breath. She knew she was holding up the others but she hardly cared at this point. She was younger than the other two, and if she wanted to stop and rest she damn well would.

"Ash can we PLEASE take a short break!? My legs are going to fall off if I don't sit down!

One of her companions, a boy with raven black hair, turned to face her, a stern look in his eye.

"We cant stop now Dawn! Viridian City is only a few hours away!

The final human member of this party, a much older boy with spiked hair and little squints for eyes, spoke at this.

"She's right Ash. We all need a break, the pokemon included. Your mother will still be there when we arrive."

Ash Ketchum was about to retort, but he knew Brock was right. What was the point of getting to Viridian to see his mother if he was too tired to even climb up to her room?

"Allright, a five minute break but that's all! Then we're back on the road!"

Dawn smiled happily and collapsed onto the ground, her Pilpup soon following suit.

"Chu Pika Pikapi, Pikachu Chaa!" the little yellow mouse on Ash's shoulder said which translated into Don't worry Ash. Your mom will be fine."

Ash smiled and petted the little rodent on the head.

"Thanks buddy. I needed that."

Ash then settled against a tree for a long and well deserved rest.

Misty Waterflower was more tired now than she ever had been in her life. She had been walking for what seemed liked days and it didn't look like she was any closer to Viridian City than when she first left her gym.

Her little mouse Pokemon, Azurill, was starting to get hungry and was letting her "mother" know it.

"Azurill! Azurill!" the pokemon whined and rubbed it's stomach with her paws.

Misty smiled at the little mouse and said "Ok, ok sweetie don't worry. Mommy will find a place and we'll have a nice lunch."

Misty scanned the landscape to see if she could find some sort of clearing or a meadow that would be sufficient enough for her and Azurill to rest in.

Her eyes fell upon a clearing up ahead. She started to walk towards it, and the closer she got the sounds of a river could be heard.

_Oh good, I found a river _Misty thought _now all my pokemon can come out for a break and I can get a drink._

She walked over to the bank of the river and sat down. Azurill leaped happily form her arms and dove into the river, cooling itself off and splashing Misty with water.

Misty giggled at her pokemons antics. She was glad for her Azurill it put her in such a good mood.

Misty was about to release her pokemon from her pokeballs when a overpowering feeling of déjà vu came over her.

_I know I've seen this place before _She thought _But where? I don't think I've ever came out here with my pokemon before, and I certainly didn't come with my sisters._

She looked around some more when she saw, on the other side of the river, a man leaning against the tree fishing from the stream. The man was clearly asleep, as he had his sunglasses on and his hat pulled way low on his face. He had his pole resting against a stick and a bell tied around the string so as to, Misty assumed, alert him when he got a bite.

Misty looked at the man and thought about how peaceful he looked. Just leaning against a tree, perfectly relaxed, not a care in the world, Misty certainly envied that. She wished she could just come out her and fish without having to worry about her gym, what irresponsible things her sisters were doing, or about a certain black-haired trainer from Pallet Town.

With a gasp, Misty finally remembered where she knew this place from, and immediately wished she hadn't.

_Oh god, this is the place. _She said in her head. _This is where I fished him out of the river. This is where I met Ash!_

Before she could stop herself, Misty began to recall that day. She remembered pulling a dirty, singed little boy out of the river, asking him how his Pikachu was doing, him stealing (and later destroying) her bike, her demanding he compensate for it, and, of course, the next four or five years spent following (and falling in love) with that same boy her destroyed her precious bike.

Misty couldn't hold back the tears any longer. She collapsed on her knees and put her face in her hands and cried for what seemed like forever. She missed him so much. And she didn't understand why he could care less that she even existed.

She realized then that something was amiss. Usually, when she started to get like this her Azurill would come and snuggle up in her arms and try to make her feel better. But she hadn't even SEEN Azurill since she got here.

"Azurill?" She called through her tears. "Where are you sweetie?"

"Looking for this?" said a raspy voice behind her.

She turned around quickly and saw the two LAST people she wanted to see.

There were two of them. A boy and a girl. The boy had green hair parted down the middle and the girl had long brown hair tied into two pigtails. They both wore black uniforms with red R's on their chest. They were none other than Butch and Cassidy of Team Rocket. And what was woose they had her Azurill locked in a cage, her little eyes wide with fear.

It was a while before Misty covered her tears and found her voice.

"You!" she screamed "I thought I could smell your stench! Give me my Azurill back now!"

The girl, Cassidy, chuckled at this.

"No little missy I don't think so. We didn't follow all the way from Cerulean City just to be reprimanded by a scrawny little runt like yourself. Now just hand over your pokemon and we'll be on our way."

"Fat chance" Misty said "The only your getting my pokemon is if you pry them from my cold, dead, fingers."

"That can be arranged." Said Butch, the male member of the team, "But the truth is we don't want to make this too messy so, would you kindly, give us that bag with your pokemon in it, and no one has to get hurt."

"Not a chance!" Misty growled "Theres no way I'm going down without a fight. Let's see how you two fair against my Gyrados."

Misty reached for her bag when a huge dog-like pokemon ran up and snatched the bag out of her hands. The dog did a 360 by the river and ran up and deposited the bag by Butch's feet.

"Good boy, Mightyena!" Butch said "And to think I thought all those games of fetch we played was a waste!"

"Give that back you creep!" Misty shrieked.

"Oh, I don't think so." said Cassidy. "In case you haven't noticed we have all your pokemon, which doesn't exactly put you in a position to tell us what to do."

Misty wanted to argue but she knew all too well they were right. Without her pokemon beside her she was powerless.

'Well, we got what we came for." Said Butch "I think it's time we made our exit."

He was about to walk out when Cassidy stopped him.

"Hold on" she said "I think I saw some other trainers in the forest somewhere. This might be our chance to nab even more Pokemon."

"Really? Well What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

He started to walk off again but Cassidy stopped him in his tracks a second time.

"No you idiot" She growled "We don't need to go to them we can make them come to us."

"Oh?" said Butch "and how do you propose we do that?"

Cassidy smiled an evil smile. "Simple" she said "Anyone responds to a damsel in distress."

Brock Slate was snoozing on the ground using a rock for a pillow. To someone who was used to a comfortable lifestyle this would be seen as extremely uncomfortable. But to an experienced traveler like Brock, this was just like a fluffy pillow, only much harder and made of granite.

Brock was a huge fan of sleeping primarily because he could just dream to his hearts content (Mostly about Nurse Joy or Officer Jenny) only in these dreams he was actually experiencing some success.

Take this dream for instance. He was at a fancy restaurant, in a tuxedo no less, and he was sitting right across from a beautiful lady with pink hair and a bright green dress.

"So Nurse Joy are you enjoying yourself?" said Dream Brock.

"Of course I am Brock. I always enjoy myself when I'm with you" said the dream Joy.

"Well, to be quite honest I can't blame you." Dream Brock said "it's not every day you can go out on a date with the worlds Best Pokemon Breeder/Professional Wrestler/Fireman/Astronaut/Kisser now is it?"

All this was too much for dream Joy "I can't stand it anymore! I love you Brock! I love everything about you from your muscular arms to your incredibly effective and flattering pick-up lines! Oh, kiss me you fool!"

Dream Brock stood up and swung dream Joy into his arms "Anything for you my sweet dandelion." he said "It's only fair to warn you, you may lose a lot of breath."

They both leaned into each other to prepare for the kiss. Their lips were centimeters apart. Nothing could stop them now. They were in it for the long haul. Just then dream Joy stopped in mid-kiss and let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Brock shot up from his sleeping position like a rocket.

He jumped up onto his feet (which since he was still 3/4ths asleep probably wasn't a good idea) and fell right back on the ground.

On his second try Brock got onto his feet and looked around dumbly trying to decide if he had, in fact, heard a scream.

_What on Earth was that? _Brock thought _Certainly, there's no pokemon that makes that sound._

His first inkling was to wake up Ash, but he almost immediately thought better of it.

_Am I even sure I heard anything? _Brock thought again to himself _I was dreaming after all and I guess I could've imagined it._

After standing completely still for a few moments with nothing but total silence coming to his ears Brock decided that he imagined the noise and decided to return to sleep.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

"I don't think there's anyone out there, Cassidy." Said Butch, impatience ringing in his voice. "I'm sure those losers would've come running by now."

Cassidy turned on her partner with contempt.

"I know they're out there, you dolt, I heard them!" she yelled. "Maybe they just need more motivation."

Cassidy looked at the machine she held in her hand. It was sort of like a taser, and it was used by Tauros trainers in the Safari Zone to get the big, bull-like, pokemon to focus on the training more. On a low setting it only delivered a small, slightly painful, shock. But turned up all the way it could generate a enough electricity to fry skin.

Cassidy turned the dial up even further than she had it, and stared at the girl before her.

Misty was kneeling on the ground with her hands tied behind her back with s black cord. She was forced on the ground by Butch, one of his hands firmly squezzing the back of her neck the other covering her mouth. She wore a look of pure hatred mixed with fear on her face.

Cassidy grinned at her evilly.

"Brace yourself" she said. "You may feel a slight pinch.

Misty closed her eyes and cringed as she waited for the machine to come in contact with her body. The seconds ticked on like hours until the point of the machine finally found its mark.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

"AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!"

This time, Brock was on his feet on his first try and he wasn't alone. Ash and Dawn had also awoken to the scream. The events that followed consisted of Ash, Brock, and Pikachu screaming in unison and equal confusion

"What in the world..?!"

"Hey, what was that?"

"Somebody's in trouble!"

"Pi Pikachu!"

"We're all gonna die!"

During all this commotion, Dawn walked over to a rock in the middle of a clearing. When she got to the rock she hoisted herself on top of it, turned to face her confused and aimless companions, cleared her throat, and bellowed "QUIET!!"

The running around and screaming stopped immediately.

"What are you guys doing!?" she said "While you guys are over there doing something out of a Benny Hill routine there's someone, somewhere who could be in legitimate trouble!"

Brock and Ash both stopped in their tracks.

"You're right." Ash said "Whoever just screamed needs our help, and we cant waste any time! You coming Pikachu?"

"Pi" The little pokemon replied enthusiastically.

"Then lets go!"

Ash then turned on his heel and ran in the direction the scream came from with Pikachu fast on his heels.

Brock and Dawn stood in place and sweatdropped as they watched Ash run off into the distance

"he certainly rushes into things, doesn't he?" dawn quipped.

"Tell me about it." Said Brock

They both stood there for a few moments longer before they realized they had been left behind.

"Hey, wait for us!!" They cried in unison, and ran after Ash into the forest.

Ash Ketchum ran into the direction of the scream until he could no longer feel his legs underneath him.

He finally slowed to a stop at the edge of a stream so he could catch his breath.

"Geez (pant) Pikachu (pant) you'd think we (pant) would've been there by now." He said.

"Pika" the small pokemon replied.

Then as quickly as it had left, Ash's determination flooded back into him.

"Aw, we cant wait around Pikachu, someone could be hurt!" he said "Come on lets go!"

Ash sped off again down the river. Pikachu was just about to follow when something caught it's eye. There, lying against a tree was a vague outline of a human. The figure was slumped against a tree.

"Pikapi, Pikachu!"

Ash turned around with a start.

"Huh? What is it Pikachu?"

"Pika!" The little pokemon and pointed to the motionless figure over by the tree.

Ash looked in the direction that Pikachu was pointing and, almost like a reflex, his hero sense kicked into full gear.

"It's a girl!" he exclaimed, already headed in the direction of the mysterious figure. "We've got to help her!" Pikachu was only to ready to jump into the chase himself.

Going full speed Ash hurtled toward the mystery girl ahead. In the distance he could hear Brock and Dawn calling out for him, but he knew there was no time for that now. This girl could be seriously injured and he knew he didn't have any time to waste.

As he got closer to girl, a sense of knowing crept into his consciousness. It was like the closer he got to this person, the more comfortable he felt approaching her, like she was an old friend or something….

As soon as this thought crossed Ash's mind he stopped in his tracks, fearful that his heart would give out. Ash DID know that girl that was sitting against the tree.

No.

Not sitting.

The girl was bound against the tree with thin wire, her hands wrung tightly behind her back in such a way that it was surely cutting off circulation. Her feet were also bound together in a similar fashion, tightly around the ankles and lying parallel to the girl's body. A red piece of cloth was stuffed painfully into her mouth, and her fiery red hair, usually tied in a ponytail, was now lying disheveled across her face. Her bright cerulean eyes that were usually filled with passion and determination were now brimming with tears to complement the look of pure terror on the young girls face.

Yes, Ash knew this girl. He knew her very well. He could remember the countless nights they had camped together in regions all over the world. He could remember all the times she cheered him on, along with the times she brought him down. He remembered this girl as though he had just seen her yesterday instead of however many months ago it was since they had last met.

The girl that lay tied up before him was Misty Waterflower.

All of Ash's instincts were screaming to go and help his best friend but his legs remained rooted to the spot. He had never so shocked in his whole life than he was at that moment. Misty had always so tough and strong, and to see her, now, pitiful and terrified bound against a tree was more than Ash Ketchum ever thought he was capable of witnessing.

Misty looked at him then, and her eyes widened in shock. She remained that way for a few moments before she started struggling like mad against her binds grunting furiously trying to get the piece of cloth off of her mouth.

This sudden burst of activity instantly woke Ash from his trance.

"Wahh Misty!" he shouted.

"Mmmph, gmmmph!" was the only sound the redhead could make in reply.

"Hang on Misty! I'll get you out of there!"

Ash ran towards the captive girl and knelt down in front of her.

"it's all right Misty, I'm here." He said "I'll get you out of here.

Gently he removed the gag from Misty's mouth, and immediately she choked out at him.

"Ash run!" She screamed "It's a trap!"

Before Ash could react to this warning he heard a loud sound like a jet plane taking off and felt an intense pain in his lower back.

"Aaaarghhh!" Ash screamed and tried to whirl around on the spot. The only problem was his whole body seemed to have seized up and he couldn't move a muscle. A shocked sounding "Pika!" beside him told him that whatever happened to him had also happened to Pikachu.

"Well, well, well" said a voice from behind him "looks like we may caught something after all."

Ash didn't have to turn around to see who the voice belonged too. He could tell it came from Cassidy, a Team Rocket member, which could only mean that her partner, Butch, was somewhere near. Ash tried to turn around to retaliate but no part of his body was able to move, save for his eyes.

"My, my, my, you're awfully stiff" Cassidy said and cackled. "Like our new toys? They're that latest in Team Rocket technology."

"It's a special kind of ray gun that sends a shock wave through your nervous system. It paralyzes all of your nerve endings, so you, little boy, are stuck where you are until your little "shock" wears off.

"And by that time.." said another which could only belong to Cassidy's partner Butch, "…we'll have made with every single pokemon in your collection!"

"About time you got back here" Cassidy said to Butch "What kept you, anyway?"

"Sorry, but these two are heavy!" he objected "It was like carrying 300+ pounds of dead weight!"

Ash heard two thuds beside him which he knew to be the paralyzed forms of Brock and Dawn beside him.

"Well that takes care of that." said Butch dusting off his hands. "Let's round up there pokemon and be on our way. What should we do with the little rugrats here?"

"There's nothing we need to do" Said Cassidy. "By the time they can move again we'll be long gone!"

Butch grunted in agreement and walked over to the spot where Pikachu lay immobilized.

"All right you little rat" he said. "You're coming with uncle Butchy. Now get in the cage!"

Butch picked up the utterly helpless Pikachu and stuffed in a very small cage and closed the door. "It's about SOMEbody caught this thing" he quipped.

"You're disgusting!" said Misty who had remained quiet until now. "You can't catch any pokemon yourself, so you have to go around stealing it from other trainers! You're pathetic! You losers won't get away with taking our pokemon!"

Cassidy flushed. "Shut your mouth, you stupid little brat!" she screeched. "If you haven't noticed we aren't those losers Jesse and James that you're used to. We actually get the job done!"

"And how, exactly, do you expect to stop us?" asked Butch. "We're in the middle of a forest, and you and you're friends are a bit incapacitated. Face it, you little twerp, we've won! Now, say goodbye to your pokemon."

"Excuse me" said a voice from a little ways behind them. "Call me crazy, but is everything all right here?"

Everyone who was not completely paralyzed spun around to see who the person speaking was. Misty recognized the man standing before them as they man she had seen fishing in the stream, before she had been tied and gagged to a tree of course.

He was a tall, muscular, boy of about nineteen. He wore a plain white shirt and faded blue jeans with some simple hiking boots to top it all off. He had a thin stream of facial hair that spanned his entire jaw line and went up to meet the bottom of his lip. The color of his eyes couldn't be seen due the pair of sunglasses he was wearing.

"Maybe I'm just ignorant to the customs of this region" the stranger said running his hand through his snow-white hair. "But where I come, if I see two people in matching uniforms tie a young girl to a tree, shoot her friends in the back with some taser gun, and then forcibly stuff there immobilized pokemon into uncomfortable looking cages, that usually something may be amiss."

Cassidy, recovering from the shock of the sudden appearance of the stranger, rounded on him "This is none of your business!"

"Yeah!" Butch yelled "Now, why don't you get out of here before we have to hurt you!"

The stranger smirked. "Okay, now I'm nearly POSITIVE there is something rotten in Denmark." The stranger ran his fingers through his hair once more and made his way to where the two pokemon thieves were standing. He positioned himself about five yards away from and spoke: "Look" he said "normally I try to stay out of other trainers affairs and follow my own path, but this is a bit crossing the line. I'm afraid that I cannot, in good conscience, let you steal pokemon from these kids. So I am going to ask you, kindly, to untie that poor girl, fix whatever you did to these three, return there pokemon, and leave without so much as a hateful comment, and I won't to have to send you to the nearest pokemon center with several injuries and not a scrap of dignity." The stranger paused and smiled to show several white teeth, "So…how does that sound?"

There was silence for a moment, a silence that was soon broken by the laughter of Butch and Cassidy.

The stranger just raised an eyebrow at the laughing duo and stood there silently.

Misty stared in awe at this strange man who had seemingly come to their rescue. Even though he had virtually NO means of dealing with the two thieves he seemed insanely confident.

She looked down at Ash who, as were Brock and Dawn, utterly motionless and unable to talk, but she knew that if he were he would be yelling at the stranger to mind his own business, as his pride would never have allowed him to accept help from anyone. She starred longingly at his raven-colored hair wanting nothing more than to stroke it and tell him that it was going to be all right. She wanted to tell him that this man, whoever he was, was going to save them and Pikachu and send Team Rocket blasting off where they belonged.

At least, that is what she sincerely hoped.

After Butch and Cassidy had recomposed themselves they had returned to their signature, intimidating, pose.

"Well, you were good for a laugh kid, but I think it's time you were taught a lesson in staying out of others affairs." said Cassidy as she reached for her belt. She withdrew a pokeball and yelled "Go Sabeleye!" releasing a small, black, goblin-like pokemon.

"You too, Mightyena!" growled her cohort releasing the big dog-like pokemon "Let's show this punk what happens when you mess with Team Rocket!"

Mightyena and Sabeleye were now stading, facing the stranger. They stood there in that standoff for what seemed like forever when finally the stranger spoke.

"Dear me," he quipped "You're sending TWO pokemon after little old me? Tsk, tsk, I really wish it didn't have to be this way."

Cassidy chuckled evilly. "What's the matter, Mr. Tough Guy afraid of getting pulverized?"

"Oh no, it's not that. I wish I didn't have to trash both you two AND your pokemon."

"That's it!" Butch roared. "I've had enough with this guy's attitude. Let's shut him up, Mightyena. TACKLE ATTACK!"

Immediately the great dog pokemon lunged at the white-haired boy with his teeth bared. But instead of trying to run or move out of the way he simply stood there, as if though everything was going according to plan and he WASN'T about to be torn apart.

Just then, in the arc of Mightyena's jump there was a sickening thud of two bodies colliding. The next thing everyone knew Mightyena was skidding along the ground towards Butch and laid there, clearly unconscious. And now there was a new blue-white, fox-like pokemon standing next to the stranger.

"Oh look" the stranger said. "Help has arrived!"

He cleared his throat, "It is my esteemed pleasure to introduce, all the way from the Hoenn region, the thrilling…the chilling…the absolutely filling…icy wonder of the world, the one, the only, Glaceon!"

The strangers Glaceon stood sharp at attention and answered with a resounding "Glace!"

The looks on Butch and Cassidy's face went from looks of shock to greedy-like sneers.

"So" said Cassidy "looks like you have some Pokemon after all."

"Huh" the stranger said "Well would you look at that…..and here I thought it was just one of those run-of-the-mill, super-powered squirrels that are so abundant in this forest."

Butch glared. Clearly he didn't approve of the strangers sense of humor.

"Yeah, you're a real riot kid." He growled as he returned Mightyena to its pokeball. "But we'll see how hard you laugh when snatch all your pokemon and leave you here frozen like the rest of these losers!"

The stranger raised an eyebrow. "You know, it really isn't polite to threaten someone you've just met with thievery and the prospect of having his neurons be micro waved."

Cassidy took a huge step forward. "THAT'S IT! I'VE HAD WITH YOUR ATTITUDE KID!" she screamed. "SABELEYE! TEAR THIS GUY APART WITH SHADOW CLAW!!!!!"

Sabeleye leaped toward the stranger and his Glaceon in full attack position ready to unleash his move.

"Oh look, Glaceon" the stranger quipped. "That ugly little elf thing appears to be attacking us. Let's take care of it shall we?"

"Glaceon!" the pokemon said as it got into its battle position.

"Good boy!" the stranger said "All right Glaceon dodge that thing and counter with some Tail Whip!"

The Glaceon jumped up just as Sabeleye's attack reached where it was standing. The instant it had dodged the attack the ice pokemon whipped around its tail with the speed of a bullet at hit Sabeleye right square in the chest knocking it back several yards until ultimately crashing into a tree.

Cassidy was not pleased. "GET UP SABELEYE AND GET BACK IN THERE!" She bellowed. "HIT HIM WITH YOUR SHADOW BALL ATTACK!!!"

Sabeleye jumped back to its feet and started conjuring a dark energy ball in its hands. When it had completed the balls construction he flung it at Glaceon with all its might.

This, however, didn't seem to faze the stranger at all.

"Glaceon, use Quick Attack!"

Again, Glaceon narrowly avoided Sabeleye's attack and this time started to run around Sabeleye like a blue-white tornado. Sabeleye tried to keep up with Glaceon's movements, but was no match for the much more agile pokemon and was starting to become very disoriented.

"Now Glaceon, Tackle it!" The stranger cried.

Suddenly, Glaceon came out of its spinning motion and slammed into Sabeleye with the force of a cannonball. The impact sent Sabeleye soaring into the sky.

"Time to bring it on home, buddy!" the stranger said "Finish it off with Ice Shard!"

Glaceon looked at its airborne target, took aim, and fired several ice projectiles at Sabeleye, and made a direct hit. After it seemed to have been frozen in the air for a split second, Sabeleye fell to the Earth with a thud. When the dust had cleared there was no mistaken that it had been knocked out.

Cassidy stared in odd disbelief before saying in a very hollow voice: "Sabeleye return" and called it back into its pokeball.

"Well, that was a quite a workout, huh Glaceon?" said the stranger "I think that may have been under a minute…that's a new record, buddy!"

The Ice Pokemon beamed at its trainer and said "Glaceon!"

"I couldn't agree more" the stranger answered "Well, lady and gentleman, if there are no more disagreements, I think it's high time you let these kids go and go on your merry……didn't your mother ever tell you it's rude to point?" the stranger said, for both Butch and Cassidy were both pointing the guns they had used to paralyze Brock and Dawn with right at the strangers head.

"I would quit talking if I were you." Butch snarled. "Your little fox there may have done a number on OUR pokemon but it won't be of any use to you if it can't move, now can it?"

"No, I suppose it can't"

"Then it looks like you're up a creek without a poke-paddle!" said Cassidy. "There's not a thing you or your little freezer rat can do to us."

"You make a solid point" said the stranger "but then again, I don't think we'll have to."

"Hey, what do you mean by that!?" demanded Cassidy.

"Well, unless I'm mistaken" the stranger began "there is a VERY agitated Pikachu behind the pair of you, and it doesn't look like it's in a very welcoming move.

Butch and Cassidy whirled around at the same second to see the tiny, yellow mouse pokemon glaring at them, and charging up a thunderbolt.

The pair of pokemon thieves stood there in a complete state of fear.

"C-Cassidy?"

"Y - Yes, Butch?"

"Do you think there's any possible way that this could still come out in our favor?"

Cassidy looked him hopelessly.

"Does it ever?"

"I didn't think so." Butch said with a grimace.

The two thieves turned around to the see the smirking face of the stranger who was once again running his fingers through his hair.

"Arriva Derci!" the stranger said with a smile.

The duo looked back at Pikachu, hugged each other, and prepared for the inevitable.

"PI-KA-CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" the little pokemon bellowed as it released a thunderstorm of electric energy on the pokemon thieves sending them skyrocketing into the air.

"Why is it that when we do everything right…..?" Cassidy began, in midair.

"…..Something still goes wrong?" finished Butch as he soared even higher in the sky.

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off agaaaaaaain!!!" They both screamed as they disappeared into the horizon with a PING of light.

Meanwhile, back on solid ground the stranger looked up at the disappearing figures that were Team Rocket.

"Well….I'll say this for those guys" he said "They sure know how to make an exit. They had a catchphrase and everything!"

The stranger turned his gaze over to Misty who was still bound to the tree.

"Well that doesn't look too comfortable." He said, and made his way over to the tree and began untying her from it.

"I take it those people weren't close friends of yours?" He said as the ropes fell off the redhead, "Who were they anyway?"

Misty got up from the tree and began to massage the areas where the ropes had bruised her skin.

"Team Rocket. They're a disgusting organization that specializes in stealing pokemon from other trainers." She said.

The stranger looked back up to the point where Team Rocket had disappeared.

"Not very good at it, are they?"

Misty smiled at this. "I've met up with those goons before, they've tried to steal my pokemon dozens of times, but they've never gotten THIS close before."

Misty turned towards the stranger "Thank you so much for saving our lives, mister." She said, "There's no telling what they would've done to us if you and your Glaceon hadn't shown up."

The stranger waved his hand. "Don't mention it," he said, "We were just in the neighborhood, it's the least we could do." The paused to flash his smile of very white teeth before adding: "And there's no need to call me 'mister'. Lucien Halifax at your service, along with his trusted poke-companion, Glaceon." He ended this sentence by giving a very over dramatic, bow with much flourishing of his hands, and his pokemon following in his suit.

Misty sweatdropped at this but decided against saying anything.

"It's very nice to meet you Mr. Halifax…."

"Call me, Lucien."

"Sorry…Lucien. My names Misty Waterflower, I'm the gym leader in Cerulean City."

Lucien looked at her questioningly for a few seconds before saying: "The pleasures all mine, Misty." He said, smiling again. "So tell me….who are these lively bunch of fellows next to you?"

Misty gasped. "Oh my god, Ash! I almost forgot!" she ran over to the black-haired pokemon trainers side, which was already occupied by Pikachu.

"Pikachu Pikapi!" the little pokemon said in very worried sounding voice.

"Don't worry, Pikachu" Misty said in a soothing voice. "Ash will be all right."

Though the truth was Misty didn't have the first idea about how she was going to revive her best friend, not to mention Dawn and Brock as well.

Misty turned up to look at Lucien. "Team Rocket froze them with some kind of ray gun." She said. "I don't know how to bring them out of it"

Lucien kneeled down to look at the utterly stupefied trio. His eyes darted from the small, black haired boy, to the much older boy with spiky hair, to the girl with blue hair, taking each of their appearances in and trying to draw a solution.

After several minutes of this, Lucien stood and cleared his throat. Misty looked up hopefully.

"It is my professional opinion" Lucien began, speaking with his voice full of authority, "that these three trainers aren't moving in the slightest."

Misty fell over on her back as soon as he uttered this, and immediately jumped on her feet in fiery anger.

"I KNOW THAT THEY AREN'T MOVING, YOU DUNDERHEAD!! I'M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT TO DO TO FIX THEM!!!" She bellowed

Surprisingly, Lucien seemed completely unaffected by this very sudden and very loud outburst. He raised an eyebrow at the fuming redhead. "No need to shout" he said. "I've got the situation completely under control."

Misty flared up again. "UNDER CONTROL!!? ALL YOU DID WAS TELL ME WHAT I ALREADY KNEW! HOW ON EARTH IS THAT _UNDER CONTROL!?"_

Lucien smirked. "Not exactly, the most even tempered girl are you? I have the situation under control because it is MY pokemon that appears to have found the device that caused all this trouble in the first place."

Both Misty and Pikachu turned around on the spot to see Glaceon edging one of the paralysis rays up to the company with its nose.

Lucien walked over to his pokemon and retrieved the gun.

"It looks as if though Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Moron dropped their little trinket" he said.

Misty and Pikachu ran over to get a closer look.

"Pi Pikachu!" the little pokemon said happily

"That's the gun they used, all right." Misty said examining it, "But does anyone know how to work it?"

Misty looked around everyone that was conscious and gathered by the looks on their faces that no one had any more clue how to work it than she did.

"In my experience" said Lucien, walking over to a nearby rock the size of a small human. "The best way to find out how something works…." He began, and then, without warning, he raised the gun high over his head and brought it down hard on the side of the rock smashing it into hundreds of pieces.

"…..is to break it." He finished with a large grin on his face.

Misty stared at Lucien in total and utter shock. He had just destroyed the one thing that would have been able to revive her friends. As soon as the shock had settled in, her temper once again skyrocketed upward.

"YOU IDIOT, LOOK WHAT YOU DID!!!!!" She screeched. "THAT WAS THE _ONLY _THING THAT WE HAD TO HELP MY FRIENDS AND YOU JUST DESTROYED IT!!! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU I'LL…….

Misty stopped shouting for a moment because Lucien, instead of cowering with fear, was laughing at her. This made Misty's already sky high temper soar even higher.

"WHAT THE HELL IS SO FUNNY!?"

"You are, Little Miss Psycho."

"OH, YEAH!? WELL IF _YOU _THINK I'M SO FUNNY HOW ABOUT I COME OVER THERE AND GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO LAUGH ABOUT….."

"Will you calm down for a second, and look behind you?" Lucien said pointing behind her. "After that, by all means, continue shrieking horribly, you haven't _quite _made my ears bleed yet."

Misty and Pikachu turned around and looked at their petrified friends, except now they didn't look so stiff anymore. In, fact they appeared to be moving.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Ash Ketchum woke up with the worst headache he had ever experienced in his life.

_Good lord, what happened? _He thought to himself. _Did I just get stampeded by a herd of Rhyhorn? Where am I, anyway?_

Ash raised himself into a sitting position and began to massage the back of his neck. _I know I should be doing something important, _he thought. _But I can't figure out what._

Then, all of a sudden, with a force of a freight train, it all came running back to him. The River. Team Rocket. Misty.

"MISTY!!" Ash screamed suddenly as he leapt to his feet.

"Don't worry Mist, I'll save you! Pikachu, Thunderbolt!

There was a cry of "PIKACHUUUUU" and the sound of a two people yelping in pain after being shocked.

"Aha, take that, Team Rocket!" Ash yelled. "That's what you get for messing with Ash Ketchum!"

"Um….Ash?"

"Come on out and fight, Butch! Me and Pikachu will tear you apart!"

"Ash?"

"What's the matter Cassidy? Afraid of getting your butt handed to you by a kid?"

"ASH!!!"

Ash whirled around at the sound of his name, to see a no longer tied up Misty, and a guy Ash had never seen before. Ash started to grow very hot.

"Uh….Hey Mist." Ash said stupidly. "I'm here to save you."

Misty giggled. "I appreciate your coming to my rescue, Ash but you're a little late" she said. "Team Rocket blasted off a long time ago."

"Oh, uh, did they?" Ash said turning a violent shade of red. "Whoops. Sorry about that."

"Oh don't apologize to us" the person Ash had never seen before said. "We're completely fine. However, your friends that you just told your pokemon to electrocute don't seem too pleased with you."

Ash turned to find Brock and Dawn, completely singed and with their hair standing up, and a very apologetic looking Pikachu at their side. Neither of them looked at all happy.

"Heh heh" Ash said becoming even more embarrassed. "Sorry you guys."

Before either Brock or Dawn had the chance to berate him at all, Ash turned to Misty and the stranger.

"So, uh, does anyone know exactly what happened?" Ash asked.

"Yeah" said Dawn "The last thing I remember having an extreme pain in my back and I woke up here."

At these words Misty spoke: "Well after you three got shot in the back by that paralyzer gun, none of you could move" she explained. "After that it looked like Team Rocket was going to get away until Lucien and his Glaceon showed up and saved us!"

"Ah shucks, tweren't nothin." said the guy called Lucien.

Looking him over Ash decided he couldn't find anything apparent that was wrong with him, and he should be very grateful to him for saving him, Misty, and the rest of his friends, but something was making him resent this new guy. He couldn't explain it, but he knew that he had wanted HIM to be the one to save Misty, not this stranger. He couldn't understand it, but the more he thought about it the less he liked this new guy.

"Well it looks like we owe you a great deal of thanks" Said Brock extending his hand. Lucien shook it and smiled.

Dawn skipped handshaking and talking and just gave Lucien a tremendous hug.

"You're, uh, welcome" said Lucien, patting her awkwardly on the back.

Even Pikachu and Pilpup extended their thanks by first hugging Lucien's leg and then hugging his Glaceon.

After everyone else had said their thank you's an awkward silence fell over the group. Ash looked up after noticing this and realized everyone was staring at him. Brock and Dawn were both looking at him sternly and Misty was positively glaring at him. Ash knew what they were waiting for, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Well, uh, if everything is in order here" Lucien began, "I think I will be on my way. Nice meeting all of you. Cheery-O!"

Lucien turned to leave but was halted by Misty holding on to his arm.

"Hold on a second, Lucien." she said. "Ash, isn't there something you'd like to say to Lucien before he leaves?"

Ash looked from Misty to Lucien for a few seconds. He went from Misty's powerful glare to the look of total on Lucien's face. Ash waited a few more seconds before finally saying: "Have a nice trip."

Misty exploded.

"ASH KETCHUM! THIS MAN JUST SAVED OUR LIVES AND OUR POKEMON AND YOU CAN'T EVEN BUCK UP THE COMMON COURTOUSEY TO THANK HIM! HONESTLY, SOMETIMES I WONDER HOW YOU MAKE IT IN THE WORLD WITH SUCH TERRIBLE MANNERS!! YOU THANK LUCIEN RIGHT NOW FOR SAVING US, OR SO HELP ME I WILL POUND INTO WEDNESDAY!!!!

At this point Misty was angrily towering over a terrified Ash Ketchum, while Dawn, Brock, Lucien, and Pikachu stared in awe.

"I'd listen to her kid." Lucien said finally breaking the silence. "If she blows up like that one more time, we'll all be standing in Viridian Crater."

Ash knew he had no choice but to thank Lucien now, but for some reason, it was still such a hard thing to do. Still, ANYthing was better than a pummeling form Misty so Ash took a deep and said "thank-you-very-much-for-saving-us-sir-mister-Lucien" all in one very short breath.

Ash looked over at Misty. It looked like she was about to explode again, but before she could start yelling Lucien interrupted.

"Well, it was fantastic meeting the group of you, but Glaceon and I have to get going. We want to make it to Viridian City before nightfall."

Ash couldn't believe it. Of all the cities in the Kanto Region why did this guy have to be travelling to the same place they were? Still, maybe he would luck out and no one would tell him they were going to the same place….

"Viridian City!?" piped in Dawn. "Hey, that's where we're going! You could travel and stay with us!"

"Hey yeah!" said Brock. "It's the least we could do after what you did for us."

"Well, that DOES sound tempting……" Lucien said.

"Oh but you wouldn't want to travel with us." Ash interrupted. "I mean, why would a guy like you want to travel with us kids for? I mean, that would just be ridiculous!" Ash started pushing Lucien in the opposite direction. "Well ta ta then, don't forget to write you'll be in our thoughts……"

For the second time that day, Misty had stopped Lucien from leaving. Also for the second time that day, she was glaring daggers at Ash.

"Don't mind Ash, Lucien" said Misty in a cold voice. "He's just being a bit of a prick at the moment. Of course, you should travel with us! The more the merrier! And like Brock said we DO all owe you one…….ALL of us do." She shot a very nasty look at Ash after saying these words.

"Well…." said Lucien in a thoughtful tone. " I suppose Glaceon and I could use a little company, it's just been me and him for what seems like forever. Ok, you guys can count me your little travelling circle. Just don't expect me to pay a membership fee."

Everyone but Ash laughed.

"Oh my god, is that really what time it is?" Dawn said, looking at her Pokenav. "If we don't get a move on it'll be January before we get to Viridian City!"

"Dawn's right." said Brock. "We really should get moving."

"Pikachu." Agreed the little pokemon.

"Well then what're we waiting for?" said Misty. "Let's go to Viridian City!"

And with that group, with its new members, headed off towards Viridian, a sulking Ash bringing up the rear.

Here is chapter three, everyone. Let me know how you feel about it.

Everhere Everthere


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**They had been travelling through the Viridian Forest for two hours now.**

**Brock and Dawn were up at the front chatting animatedly with Lucien. Pikachu, Pilpup, Azurill and Glaceon were all conversing to each other in their own languages, and occasionally springing into impromptu wrestling matches with each other.**

**Misty, however, was not part of any of these conversations. She was behind the rest of them watching Ash, who had not said a word since Lucien had joined their group. He had stayed towards the back of the company, not talking to anyone, which was VERY odd behavior for him. She looked up at the front to see Lucien telling Dawn and Brock a story that made both of them laugh.**

**What was it about Lucien that was making Ash act the way he was? First, he had almost refused to thank him, and now he was going to lengths pretending that he wasn't even there. It was all very strange indeed.**

_**I'll go talk to him **_she thought _After all, I'm his best friend, surely he'll tell me. _

It was against Misty's wishes when her thoughts subconsciously uttered: _At least, I THINK I'm his best friend._

She walked towards where the dark-haired pokemon trainer was walking until she was walking in the same pace as him.

"Hi." said Misty, with a smile.

A non-committal grunt was the only thing she got for a reply.

Misty's face hardened. "Ash, what is wrong with you? You have hardly spoken since we left with Lucien."

Ash replied without even glancing at her. "Well maybe I didn't have anything to say that can compare with the tales of the fabulous Lucien Halifax. Maybe, Pikachu and I felt it would be more prudent if we stayed back so as not inflict upon his greatness."

Misty glared at him. "I'm not saying I want you to plan a parade for him, Ash." She said "But considering he DID save our lives I think he deserves a little more friendliness than we're giving him."

"Yeah, well you know what? I could've saved us too if I hadn't been stupefied by Team Rocket! So why don't you leave me alone! It looks like Brock and Dawn are continuing the fan club meeting without you!"

After saying this, Ash returned his gaze to the ground.

Her original intention was to retaliate (as was her reaction to most things) but something about the look in his eye made her hesitate. Usually, when she got in fights like this with Ash his eyes were full with contempt, almost as if they were daring her to make another move.

But not this time. This time his eyes wouldn't even meet her own. They were fixed at a spot on the ground between his two sneakers. They remained there, unmoving. Also, whenever she caught a glimpse of his eyes they were not filled with contempt, it looked to her like they were pained somehow.

She looked at him trying her best to figure out what could be wrong with him, considering possibilities that ranged from manic-depression to colon cancer, when suddenly, like a Thundershock attack from Pikachu, it struck her. His quiet behavior, his bad attitude, his resentment toward Lucien, it all made sense.

"Ash" she began "You aren't _jealous _are you?"

He looked up. "Jealous? Of the pretty boy in the James Dean outfit? Of course not! You know me better than that!"

The look on his face told Misty that that was far from the truth.

"Well Ash, for what it's worth, I thought you were very brave today."

Her statement surprised her almost as much as it surprised Ash. She wasn't usually so bold about things like this, especially things that regarded Ash Ketchum. She felt her face redden.

"You…You really think so, Misty?" he asked, his face a shade of scarlet to match her own.

Now she was in for it. Like so many times in her life her mind had come to a fork in the road. She could now either take the route where she let her guard down and told Ash how brave us and risk her true feelings coming out, or she could take the route she usually took which involved taking back what she said and put him down and start a famous Ash and Misty fight. And like so many times before she was hovering on the edge, desperately trying to decide what path to take.

All at once, she decided. She took a deep breath, and spoke.

"Of course, Ash." She said, her face growing an even deeper shade of scarlet. "Once you saw me in trouble back there you put everything you had on the line just to make sure I was all right. You're the only person I know who would run into danger like that, just to help out a friend. And although, it probably wasn't the smartest choice you could've made….it was still very sweet of you to do all that for me. Thank you, Ash"

There. She had said it. Now she just had to wait and see how he would react to it.

After a few seconds, Ash looked up from the ground and smiled at her.

"Thanks, Mist."

"You're welcome, Ash."

They continued to walk together, side by side, for a little while longer not saying anything, until Misty finally broke the silence.

"So" she said "Why don't you tell me a little of what's been going on since I last saw you."

Ash smiled and launched himself into stories about all of his pokemon battles, with Misty listening intently. Both of the considerably happier than they had been five minutes ago.

The rest of the trip to Viridian City went on without any trouble (this is of course excluding an incident involving Pikachu and a pinecone) and by the time everyone reached the Viridian City border after a whole night of travelling everyone was in high spirits. Dawn, Brock, and Lucien were the first to arrive.

Dawn drew in a deep breath. "Ah, you smell that? I love the smell of civilization in the morning!"

"Yes, there's nothing like the smell of exhaust fumes and body odor to start out your day." Said Lucien. "Where was it the rest of you were headed?"

"The hospital" said Brock. "To visit Ash's mom."

"She sick?"

"No. Concussion. From what we could make out from the call Ash received she was attacked."

"Attacked? By whom?"

"No idea. By the time the authorities arrived all the found was Delia unconscious, the house torn apart, and a hysterical Mr. Mime in the closet."

Lucien raised an eyebrow. "Really? Is his family rich or something?"

"No, that's just it" Brock said. "No one has any idea WHY someone would try to rob Delia Ketchum. It doesn't make any sense."

Lucien whirled around "WHO did you say!?"

"D-Delia Ketchum?" said Brock, surprised by Lucien's sudden outburst.

Lucien's skin turned a shade of white to match his hair. He began to sweat profusely.

"Lucien what's WRONG with you?" asked Dawn. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Lucien looked at her. "No…no I haven't…..at least not yet."

Brock and Dawn stared at their new friend with a kind of worried amazement. In the few hours they had known him Lucien had seemed to be a very cool individual who looked as though he could go through seven hurricanes and not lose it. But now he was sweaty and white as a sheet and, as far as anyone could tell, for no reason.

"What are you talking about?" asked Brock. "Are you feeling all right?"

Lucien looked up and put on what looked like a very forced smile. "Of course! Never better. However, I think I might need to tag along with youguys a little longer…..it seems as if though I have newfound business at the hospital."

"Well of course you can come with us" said Dawn. 'But what exactly do you mean by bus…."

"Oh look!" Lucien interrupted loudly "It's Misty, the pokemon, and that kid who appears to hate my guts! What a welcome distraction!"

Dawn and Brock looked up and saw the heads of Ash, Misty, Pikachu, Pulpip, and Glaceon all coming out of the edge of the forest. As soon they spotted the others they hurried over. Glaceon, Pulpip, and Azurill rushed to their trainers sides while Pikachu remained on Ash's shoulder.

"Sorry it took us so long." Misty said, as soon as they got there. "Ash, tried to capture a pile of rocks."

"Hey, we agreed that anyone could have mistaken that pile of rocks for a Rhyhorn!" yelled Ash in defense.

"Of course they would, Ash." Said Misty, winking at the rest of them.

"Well now that we're here, I suggest we get moving" Said Brock "Are you ready to see your mom, Ash?"

Ash's face fell. After all the excitement that had happened today he had almost forgot the entire reason they had made this visit. His mom was just a few blocks away, lying in a hospital. Pikachu gently nuzzled the side of his trainers face as a hope to cheer him up.

It seemed to work because Ash's determined gaze alit upon his face once again.

"Yeah, Brock" he said "let's get a move on."

And so our heroes made tracks in the direction of the Viridian City hospital.

The Viridian City hospital was, for lack of a better word, immense.

It was a tan limestone giant towering three stories above the city. The front doors were roughly the size of Buick's and the entryway was adorned with a fountain depicting an angel with water flowing out of his mouth. There was aplaque on the front of the fountain depicting the Hippocratic Oath.

Once you entered through those behemoth doorways you enter a massive waiting room. This room looks like the foyer of a very bland castle with its ornate furniture, crystal chandeliers, and walls the color of vomit. They are five waiting areas scattered around the room each with the same assortment of three armchairs and a sofa, all a deep shade of maroon and made of obviously fake leather.

The floor is checkered tile and colored blue and yellow. If you were looking from above it looks like a giant off-color chessboard with pawns in bishops dressed white lab-coats moving around it in no particular order.

From this same vantage point (if you were still looking) you would now see a company of five people and three pokemon thunder across the chessboard up to the front desk.

Brock got to the front desk first.

"Hello we're here to see Delia Ketchum, it's an emergency." He said.

The receptionist was a stout middle aged woman with black hair and mole on her right cheek. The name of her nametag read "IRENE".

"Are you immediate family?" she croaked in a voice that sounded a lot a cross between a frog and that slug lady from _Monsters Inc_.

"Yes!" said Ash skidding to a halt in front of the desk "I'm her son! I need to see her now."

The receptionist shuffled the papers on a desk to one and hit a button on her intercom and squawked into it: "Paging Dr. Rathbone to the front desk, please. Dr. Rathbone to the front desk." She turned back to Ash and his friends. "The doctor will be with you shortly, and please keep in mind that any damage your pokemon may cause will be your responsibility. Please have a seat in the designated area" she said motioning to an uncomfortable looking sofa.

"Yeah, all right, thanks" Said Ash taking a seat. The rest of his friends soon followed suit.

"Ouch" said Dawn as she sat down. "I think it might be comfier if I were sitting on a Cacturn."

"Yes, well, hospitals don't really understand the concept of comfort." Said Lucien, taking a seat himself in one of the armchairs. "Why else do you think their hands and stethoscopes are so cold?"

Misty took a seat by Ash and Ash leaned over to her. "Why is he coming with us?" he asked her. "Doesn't he have some place to be?"

"Oh will you give it a rest, Ash" she said. "He's not hurting anyone, and besides he DID save our lives if you recall."

Ash was about to retaliate when suddenly a voice interrupted them.

"Are you the visitors for Delia Ketchum?" it asked. "My name is Dr. Vincent Rathbone and I'm the on-floor physician at Viridian City General."

When you first saw Dr. Vincent Rathbone, the very first thing that you would notice was his staggering height. Indeed, he seemed to tower at least a foot over everyone else in the hospital and no doubt all of his clothes, from his blinding white lab coat to his shiny, black shoes were specially made for his side. His face had a rather stony quality about it and he had solid black hair, parted on the side perfectly his neatly trimmed goatee on his chin.

Ash was on his feet in a second. "Yes! That's us! Is my mom all right?"

Dr. Rathbone chuckled. "Yes son, your mother is fine, save for a nasty headache. She's been awake now for a few hours. In fact, she has to visitors up there already. A lab professor and his assistant I believe."

"That must be Professor Oak and Tracy!" said Brock.

"What room is she in?" Ash asked, a little louder than was probably needed. "Can we see her now?"

Yes, of course." said Dr. Rathbone. " I can take you to her now…however your pokemon will need to be kept under control. Can you do that?"

Ash and Dawn nodded in unison along with their holding there pokemon close to them. Lucien allowed a smirk to cross his face, but other than that he made no notion that he had heard Dr. Rathbone at all.

'Well, if all of that is settled then you can follow me. Your mother is dying to see you."

"Um…could we please not use that terminology?" asked Ash, starting to look a little sick himself.

Dr. Rathbone chuckled again. "Sorry about that, son. What I meant was your mother is _very, very, excited _to see you. Now if you will follow me, please." Dr. Rathbone turned around and started walking down a very long hallway with all of the others standing up to follow him. All except, Lucien who stayed behind.

"I'll catch up with the rest of you in a minute." He said "I have to make a phone call. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes."

"Take your time!" Ash called to him which got him a hard nudge in the ribs from Misty.

"Be nice." She said. However, something was bothering her.

_Why IS he here with us? _She wondered to herself _And who is he calling in Viridian City at six o clock in the morning?_

She started to expound on these thoughts but Ash's voice rang through her ears and interrupted her.

"Hurry up, Mist! I want to see if my moms ok!"

"Huh? Oh….coming!" she said, hurrying after them, leaving all her thoughts about Lucien Halifax behind them.

The hallway Dr. Rathbone was leading them down was exactly like waiting room they just left, constricted down to a narrower area. Everything was identical down to the nauseating color of the walls.

He stopped in front of a marble-white door marked 411. He turned to face the group.

"This is Mrs. Ketchum's room, but before I let such a large group inside all at once, I need to lay down some ground rules, the first being to keep the noise level at a bare minimum. Mrs. Ketchum is still recovering from a concussion and the last thing she needs is a circus stampeding through her hospital door. Another thing is to not overexcite her. The overexcitement may cause her brain to go in a sort of frenzy and could be very hazardous to her health."

Dr. Rathbone paused for a moment to clear his throat.

"I believe that's all I have for you. Does anyone hear not understand the rules?"

Everyone shook their head no.

"Very good" The doctor said "Then by all means step inside. Mrs. Ketchum will be delighted to see you all."

Dr. Rathbone opened the door.

The door was only opened a fraction of the way before a bellowing cry of "MOM!" from Ash's throat, filled the room. He immediately charged in the door (knocking Dr. Rathbone over) and everyone else thundered in after him, leaving a trampled and battered Dr. Rathbone on the floor behind them.

Ash was the first one to his mom's bedside.

"Mom, I'm so glad to see you! Are you ok?"

She looked up at him and smiled. To Ash she seemed exactly like she had been the last time he had left her to go on his pokemon journey. She still had the same kind expression on her face and the same tenderness in her eyes. The only things different was she was wearing a hospital gown (instead of her usual pink button up blouse and skirt number) and had a turban of bandages wrapped around the crown of her skull.

"I'm fine, sweetie. Dr. Rathbone has been taking very good care of me, and so have Professor Oak and Tracy."

Ash looked up and for the first time saw the wizened old professor and his assistant sitting (rather uncomfortably) on a couch that could have the clone of one of the ones in the waiting room.

"Hello, Ash" the professor said, giving him a firm nod. "We're all very glad to see you made it here safely."

"Yeah, we were getting worried." Said Tracy, looking up at all of them.

"Well we would have been here sooner" Misty said, answering him. "But we had a little trouble with Team Rocket."

"My goodness!" exclaimed Delia, sitting up. "Not them again. What happened?"

And so Misty, Brock, and Dawn all launched into the entire story about Misty's abduction, the paralysis rays, and how Lucien had saved them (Dawn had told this part of the story with much exaggeration) and finally how they had escaped, while they were telling the story ash had kept his eyes focused on his mother, not saying a single word.

"My word" said Professor Oak, standing up from the sofa. "Paralysis Rays. You kids have been paralyzed or life if something had gone wrong. It makes you shiver wondering just how low Team Rocket will sink."

Everyone nodded their head in agreement.

"Well it seems to me" said Delia. "That I owe this Lucien a tremendous thank you for saving my son and his friends." She turned to Dawn. "Dawn, dear, didn't you say he was with you?"

"Well, yeah" began Dawn, looking puzzled. "He WAS with us but I have no idea where….."

"He went to make a phone call" interrupted Ash gruffly and rather rudely. It was clear that he wasn't too thrilled with his own mother joining the Lucien Halifax fan club.

Before anything else could be said about Lucien, thereby sending Ash way over the deep end, Misty changed the subject.

"Mrs. Ketchum" she asked "What on earth happened to you?"

Ash was instantly up on his feet. "Yeah" he said. "Tell me the name of the clown that hit you so I know who's face to rearrange."

Delia giggled at that. "That's sweet, honey, but I honestly don't know who it was. I was just in the kitchen making dinner for Mimey and I, when I heard this knock on the doorway. I figured it must have been Professor Oak wanting some of my recipes so I went to answer it. Only when I opened the door, it wasn't Professor Oak, it was some guy in a hood. I started to ask him who he was and what he wanted but before I could get a word out I felt a sharp pain on the top of my head and everything went black."

She shook her for a moment, as if though trying to shake off unpleasant thoughts.

"The next thing I remember is waking up with Professor Oak holding upright with one hand and calling an ambulance with another. I am so thankful for him being there. If he hadn't stopped by to say hello and found me in there with the door wide open and my house burgled, I might never have woken up." She turned to Professor Oak with a smile and an odd look in her eye (that Ash noticed, but didn't quite understand). "And I can't thank him enough for that."

Professor Oak returned the smile (and that same weird look that was deeply puzzling Ash) and said: "Think nothing of it, Delia. I'm only thankful that you are all right."

They continued looking at each other in that weird for a few seconds longer before Delia finally turned her gaze back to Ash.

"But other than that, honey, I have no memory of what happened that day. The next thing I remember was waking up in the hospital with Professor Oak and Tracy waiting here for me. Dr. Rathbone said Professor Oak didn't leave the room once since he brought me." She turned to Professor Oak and smiled that same smile but before she could look at him in that odd way again Ash intervened.

"But mom, I don't understand" he said. "Why would someone want to rob our house, we don't have anything valuable."

However, once he said this a guilty expression crossed Delia Ketchum's face.

'Well, honey, that's not entirely true."

The entire group recoiled at her words in astonishment.

"What are you talking about, mom?" he asked. "Do we have a fortune of gold bars buried in the back yard or something?"

Delia giggled again. "No, Ash, it's nothing like that….your grandmother left me something just before she died, and if I wasn't wearing it when that man knocked me out, I have no doubt he would've taken it. Here, let me show you…." She reached down under her gown and pulled out the most beautiful looking necklace any one of them had ever seen.

It was in the shape of a heart and was a brilliant sapphire blue and hung loosely from a gleaming silver chain. Delia lifted it up so that it would hit the light form the morning sun coming through the window and when it did it was as if he whole room was filled with dancing rays of light the color of the most brilliant blue.

"Oh Mrs. Ketchum!" exclaimed Misty, holding her hand to her heart. "It's BEAUTIFUL!"

"It's the prettiest thing I've ever seen!" Dawn agreed, a look of shcok and wonder on her face."

"PikaCHU!" said Pikachu, it's little black eyes glistening.

After everyone had got a good look Delia put back under her hospital gown.

"It's called the Spring Day Heartstone" she said returning her gaze to everyone in the room. "It's an ancient family heirloom that has been passed down to the women in family for generations. By now, considering it's age and beauty Professor Oak is certain that its value is priceless."

In the corner of the room, Professor Oak gave another firm nod as if he was agreeing with himself.

"Well one thing is for sure" said Brock, after the excitement of the gem had settled down. "If whoever broke into your house was looking for something…that thing HAS to be it."

Delia nodded. "My thoughts exactly" she said.

"But mom" said Ash, now looking confused. "I didn't even know that gem existed, and I'm your son. How could someone else have known you had it."

Delia frowned. "Yes, that's what stumps me" she said "I never told anyone else about the gem, except for Professor Oak, until now. I have no idea how anyone could have known I even had it."

"Yes" said Professor Oak, stroking his chin. "This whole incident is very peculiar and I must say it has me baffled."

Before anyone could expound on the subject further, however, all train of thought was halted by an abrupt knock at the door, After knocking for only a short bit the door opened slightly and the head of Dr. Rathbone peered into the room.

"I'm sorry to disturb you folks" he said. "But there is another gentleman out here who claims to be a member of your party, a fellow with white hair and sunglasses. Calls himself Loo-shin or something like that."

"That's Lucien!" said Dawn, getting up excitedly.

"Oh yes!" said Delia, sitting up. "Let him in, please, doctor. I want to meet the man that saved my sons life."

Everyone ignored the groan that escaped from Ash's throat.

"Very well, then" He said and opened the door.

Lucien entered the room with Glaceon at his heels and took off his sunglasses.

"Sorry that took so long" he said. "I had to make a long distance call and those video phones have horrid reception. I tell you, if I had a nickel for every time…."

Lucien stopped suddenly because Delia Ketchum was looking at him like he was some kind of disgusting fish monster. She reached to the side of her bed and yanked the cordless clock that was sitting there outside the wall.

"YOU!" she screamed at him with more malice than Ash or anyone else had ever heard her speak in their lives. "HOW DARE YOU COME ANYWHERE NEAR MY SON!"

And with that she cocked her hand back and threw the clock at Luciens face with all of her might.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't won any aspect of Pokemon, that belongs to the Japanese.

**Chapter 5**

The clock radio zoomed past Lucien's head with considerable speed and crashed into the wall behind him, shattering into several pieces.

Lucien stared at the broken heap of machinery and raised an eyebrow. He then turned to face the occupancy of the room and smiled.

"You know, oddly enough, this is not the worst welcoming I've had before."

Delia, despite her injuries and the protests of Professor Oak, was on her feet in a moment. Her body was in the most rigid of stances, and her fists clenched so tight her fingernails had almost broken the skin of her palm.

"I swore to myself that, if I ever saw you again, I would kill you," she said. "I just never thought I'd be so lucky to have the pleasure."

Lucien's expression remained without fear. If anything, it only grew more puzzled.

"This might be a stupid question, but have we met?"

Delia's face glowered and she picked up a lamp to her left, brandishing it like staff.

"Shut up," she commanded. "You won't talk yourself out of this one."

Ash, though confused, was never one to stand idly by while his mother was in such a state. He was on his feet and by her side in a moment.

"Mom, what is it? You _know _this guy?"

Delia answered her son without looking at him. Her eyes were focused on Lucien in a fiery gaze.

"I know him, all right," she said. "Leave, Ash. Leave and take your friends with you.

Ash's expression faltered as he backed away from his mother. He had never seen her like this before.

Ever.

"Come on, now, Delia. I don't think that's necessary," Lucien said. "If you're going to physically harm a stranger in a hospital, it should at least be a family occasion."

Delia glared at the man in front of her and, with such precise, fluid motion it was almost invisible, struck Lucien in the chest with the lamp she had been brandishing.

Lucien was down in an instant.

Misty, having sprung to her feet on purely reaction alone, was now staring at Delia with wide, petrified eyes.

She tried in vain to speak, but the words wouldn't come.

In fact, it seemed that no one could speak. After all, what can you say after one of the most gentle people you had ever known just attacked someone with more contempt than they could have thought possible.

And in the silence, the room was as still as a tomb.

After a few moments, a grumbling, groaning Lucien slowly brought himself to his feet. A small trickle of blood was now trailing out the corner of his mouth where Delia had hit him.

"Wow," he said. "You know if I wasn't bleeding and certain I had a concussion I would be totally turned on by you right now."

Delia cocked the lamp back, ready for another strike.

"How dare you call me by my first name?" she said. "If you talk again I will kill you. The only reason I'm stalling now is because my son is in the room.

Ash's face went ghostly white.

Delia ignored it. "Do what I said, Ashton." She said. "Take your friends outside."

Ash was about to refuse (no way that he would A. leave his mother in a condition like this or B. miss a chance of Lucien getting his ass handed to him) when the voice of Professor Oak rang throughout the hospital room, startling them all.

"Enough." He commanded in a voice that was too loud to be a statement but too quiet to be a yell. He turned to Delia. "Delis, be reasonable. You're condition is affecting you. This man is not who you think he is."

Delia rounded on him. "Don't pull that crap with me, Sam. I let Lucinder Halifax get out of my hands once, and I swear it will not happen again."

Professor Oak shook his head. "Delia, there's no way that this young man is Lucinder Halifax. You and I watched him die over ten years ago. Don't you remember?"

Delia's expression faltered slightly but her resolve remained unbreakable.

"You know as well as I do what that man was capable of. It's just another one of his cheap theatrics! And besides, he looks just like him! How do you explain that?"

"Well if I could have a few moments without getting whaled on with household appliances," Lucien began, "I would be happy to fill everyone in."

Delia seemed to have a retort on the tip of her tongue but Professor Oak silenced her.

"Let the man speak his piece," He said, nodding. "Go on young man."

Lucien smiled and nodded back, grateful for the old man's interference.

"Now," he said. "If you will allow me to clear something up…my name is _not _Lucinder Halifax. He is…was…my father."

Professor Oak raised an eyebrow while Delia continued to glower.

"And you _are _right about one thing, Samuel, my father is dead."

Professor Oak bowed his head.

"My condolences."

Lucien waved it off.

"No need for that, Samuel. I never knew the man. In fact, the only reason I even know of his existence is because of a diary he left me for my eighteenth birthday."

Delia spoke now, her voice overflowing with mistrust and contempt.

"If you aren't Lucinder then how is it you know our names?"

Lucine smiled and drew into the pocket of his coat, his Glaceon standing a close guard on his side. In a matter of moments, Lucien withdrew a book the size of a small three dollar novel you find in supermarkets.

"There all in here," he said. "These are my father's private records. Everyone and everything about The League of the Wehyah is in here."

Both Delia and Professor Oak seemed to flinch at Lucien's words.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Something wrong?"

Professor Oak raised his hand dismissively.

"It's nothing. It's just that…Delia and I have not heard that name in a long time, in fact we'd rather soon forget it."

Lucien chuckled.

"Is that so? Well I'd hate to burst your bubble, Sammie, but my father left me something else…something that's sure to get your memory running in top gear."

Once again, he reached into his pockets (this time the left) and pulled another object. It appeared to be a small, shimmering stone, no bigger than the charm of a locket, and it had a deep violet hue to it. It was in a peculiar shape as well, made to look like an **L, **but much broader and a more unique indention.

The younger members of the room, Ash, Brock, Misty, Dawn, and Tracey looked upon the object with total admiration, like it was a priceless artifact in a museum. The kind of artifact that, if you even stared too long at it, It would almost seem like you were touching it with your hands,

Delia and Professor Oak, however, were staring at it like they had seen the devil himself.

"I don't believe it," Professor Oak managed to say, in spite of all the foreboding he now felt. "I thought they were all gone forever."

Lucien shook his head.

"So did I. But then I found this buried in with some of fathers old personal effects."

Lucien smiled, a hungry glint in his eye.

"There still out there, Samuel. Every one."

Professor Oak and Delia could still only stare. The two looked like they were perpetually seeing ghosts.

"I don't believe it," Professor Oak said again. "I just don't believe it…not after all these years."

"I understand your bewilderment," said Lucien. "I couldn't believe it myself at first until I tried it. But it's true. The Euphoria Stone still works…and it still points the way for the others!"

Professor Oak' eyes bulged. Although what Lucien was saying didn't make any sense to the rest of them, it seemed to make perfect sense to Delia and Oak.

They continued to wait in silence a few moments more, no on daring to talk. The silence was so thick you could almost touch it. And then, with as much spontaneity as a rouge firecracker, Brock spoke and broke the silence.

"Professor Oak," he said, talking in the most authoritative voice he knew how. "I can understand if you and Ms. Ketchum are a bit too overwhelmed by all of this, but all the rest of us are completely in the dark as to what is going on."

"Yeah, mom" Ash piped up. How is it you know, Lucien? And who is Lucinder?"

Delia sighed and walked over to her son. She brought him closer into a hug and gently stroked coal black hair.

"Oh Ash," she said. "The truth is there were a lot of things I was involved in before you were born that I've never told you about. Things that, well, things I'm not too proud of. I was going to tell you when you were older, but…"

To Ash's total and complete shock his mother began to tear up.

"…but I didn't want you to hate me. I didn't want you to despise me for what I was a part of."

Ash loosened his muscled and returned his mothers hug.

"Mom, please," he said. "Just tell me what all of this about."

Delia, wiping her eyes and smiling at her brave and inquisitive son (_he is so much like his father) _and opened her mouth to speak.

But instead of her voice, the voice of Professor Oak crossed the threshold of Ash's ears.

"Delia, please, you need your rest," he said. "I'll fill the children in, with your permission of course."

All eyes were on Delia as she hesitated at first, but then gave the old man a quick, rapid nod.

Professor Oak nodded back and gazed over all of the room.

"Listen to me, kids" he said, "I'm about to tell you a story that hasn't been told by anyone in over ten years, one that the crafters of the tale have to tried their very best to keep a secret."

He paused for a moment, giving Lucien an opportunity to pipe up.

"Oh man, are we doing a flashback sequence?" He whined to Glaceon. "How cliché is that?"

Professor Oak, ignoring the young man, took one last look over his audience before clearing his throat, and beginning the tale.

**To Be Continued**

Hello and welcome, readers, to my story called The Great Wehyah. This story, actually, is just one of the five installments to an entire story arc that I am creating, and that I hope comes to the enjoyment of you, the readers.

So, please, if you can find it in your hearts to do so, review the chapters when you are done reading them, and, if you feel the need, criticize them in whatever way you feel necessary (I need the constructive criticism) but _only _if you feel you need too.

Now, that being said, I hope you will continue reading.

Thanks,

Everhere Everthere


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Pokemon franchise.

**Chapter 6**

"It was about twelve years ago, give or take a few months, when I first met the man who would become the greatest monster I have ever known.

"A few colleagues, and myself, had signed on to take part in an archaeological dig on Chrysanthemum Island. There had been legends of ancient civilization who had worshipped a mythical Pokemon. Talks of the dig had been tossed around by the boys in the back room and it had seemed like they were going to put the entire project on Hiatus. But, thanks to an anonymous donor, we were able to raise the necessary funds and we were given the go-ahead to proceed with excavation.

"When we first got to our dig site colleagues and I were shocked to find how little land there was to work with, only about three acres in all, and that we had a six month deadline to make any sort of progress. Naturally, we thought it would be a piece of cake…but, our efforts proved otherwise. In an entire span of three months we didn't find anything but a bunch of rocks and unopened condoms."

Both Dawn and Misty blushed heavily at these words, eliciting a small giggle from Brock and Tracy. Ash, however, remained clueless.

Ignoring the outbursts, Oak continued.

"After several months of and nothing to show for it most of the group was ready to give up, myself included…All except for one of us. One man refused to give up the search, saying that it was "our destiny" to find whatever was buried out here, and he simply refused to quit. That man was Lucinder Halifax."

Professor Oak took a small breath and paused for a minute, letting his dramatic revelation sink in to his listeners. After a few more moment's pause, he continued:

"I'll never forget the day that I ventured with Lucinder into that jungle. It wasn't on our marked excavation site, you see, and, if caught, we would be considered trespassers and need to be prosecuted by full extent of the law. When I told Lucinder this however, he simply laughed and repeated that nothing could interfere with our destiny…not even the law."

"Hold on," Misty said, "I'm sorry Professor Oak but, if you knew it was illegal, then why did you do it?"

Oak chuckled and shook his head.

"Lucinder was a very eloquent speaker, Misty," he said, "So good, in fact that, if he were alive now, he could probably convince Delia not to beat the crap out of him."

"Fat chance," Delia scoffed.

Oak smiled again and began talking.

"After several hours in the jungle, I had given up. We had had no better luck off our excavation site as we had _on_ it. And then, right as I was about to make that point to Lucinder he called me over to where he was digging. When I followed his voice over to the source of the noise I saw what he had discovered…and it took my breath away. Lucinder had found and _entire _underground temple, complete with ancient carvings and cave drawings. And, best of all, everything was still intact! If we could get the others to come and see for themselves we would be credited for making the find of the century!"

Professor Oak sighed.

"The only problem was, Lucinder didn't see it that way."

"Huh?" asked Ash, "He wanted you to keep the temple a secret? Why would he do that?"

"I didn't know it then, but Lucinder was after much than just fame, Ash. Much more.""

Ash looked confused.

"What else did he want?"

"Lucinder continued, despite my many protests, to look around the insides of the temple. Upon closer inspection, he came up to a wall with an ancient set of hieroglyphs on it. I told it was all gibberish, but he refused to listen. We spent hours down in that dank, little temple while Lucinder tried to crack the mystery of these symbols on the wall. I stayed with him out of some concern for his well being, but mostly because, being a scientist, I was curious myself. So you can imagine my surprise and delight when he told me he had solved it."

Everyone gasped at this.

"What did it say?" asked Tracey.

Professor Oak turned to the room's entire occupancy and sighed. It was apparent he was getting to the part of the story that he and Delia did not want to tell.

"The hieroglyphs told a legend of an ancient Pokemon called Wehyah, one more powerful than anyone I have ever heard of. As the legend goes the one who collected five special stones and brought them together, would be able to awaken this powerful Pokemon. It was said that this Pokemon, once properly resurrected, had the power to grant any one wish of the one who had resurrected him."

Ash's eyes bulged.

"Hey I know a Pokemon like that!" he exclaimed, "When May was with us we found a Pokemon named Jirachi who could grant wishes! May asked it one herself!"

Misty, unseen by everyone else, flinched at the sound of May's name. She had heard all about the adventures she had gone with Ash and about how close the two had gotten.

Needless to say…it was a touchy subject.

Somewhere in the back of the room, Lucien scoffed.

"Not even close," he said, "Jirachi's magic is like sitting on Santa's lap compared to this Pokemon."

Professor Oak chuckled at this.

"A bit juvenile, but correct nevertheless," he said, "The truth is Ash that, unlike Jirachi, Wehyah has no restrictions on the wishes it is allowed to grant. It can turn lead to gold, resurrect the dead, and even reshape the world into someone else's own image. Simply put, the man who controls the Wehyah controls the planet."

Everyone let out a small breath…this was pretty big news after all.

"So what happened next?" Dawn inquired

"Well, after Lucinder had finished deciphering the hieroglyphs he insisted that we start looking for the stones immediately.I, of course, told him he was crazy and that the statues were only a myth, a fabrication. But Lucinder, being who he was, refused to hear any of it. And so, he continued to scour the temple for something that would change my mind and, sure enough, he found it."

The room was silent for a minute, no one even dared to speak. It was Brock who finally broke the silence.

"Found…what?"

Professor Oak raised his right hand and pointed over into Lucien's direction.

"That very same stone that Mr. Halifax is now holding."

All eyes turned towards Lucien. Smiling, the white-haired man took the stone and placed it on an end table next to him for all to see.

"It's a bit duller than it was back then, but, you get the idea."

Oak nodded.

"Yes indeed. Of course, that stone was by far the easiest to find. The other's proved to much more of a challenge."

Ash stood up.

"Professor Oak," he breathed. "You mean you and this Lucinder guy actually _found _these stones?"

Oak shook his head.

"No, Ash. Lucinder and I didn't find these stones together. We had an entire group of able-bodied Pokemon trainers united under one goal: to find these sacred stones. We went on to call ourselves The League of the Wehyah."

Then, as a sudden as a train wreck, the pieces clicked into Ash's mind.

"Mom," he said, "Were you part of this…League of…Whatever?"

Delia Ketchum nodded, grimly.

"Yes, Ash. And so was your father."

Ash's heart skipped a beat. He took Pikachu off of his shoulder and held him tightly.

"My – My dad?"

Delia nodded again; tears were now coming down her face.

"Yes, honey. Your dad. Oh Ash, I'm so sorry I never told you but…I didn't think you'd be able to handle it. I didn't think you'd be able to understand."

Delia turned away from her son then, unable to control her emotions. Ash could only stare.

Lucien gave the two a moment to collect the bearings before nodding to the old man.

"Continue, if you would please, Samuel."

"It took us several months, many of which were spent traveling to across the globe and bearing all the extremities this planet had to offer, but we eventually found these five "Empathy Stones" as we called them."

"Why Empathy Stones?" asked Brock.

Lucien chuckled.

"Samuel, if I may…this is my favorite part."

The old man nodded.

"Be my guest."

Lucien once again picked the violet rock from its table and held it up.

"They are called Empathy Stones because each and every one has a unique ability relating to certain emotions, Happiness, Sadness, Fear, and Anger. This one, for example, is called the Delirium Stone. It has the power to tap in to the subconscious of whoever is holding at send them in to uncontrollable bouts of euphoric contentment, sometimes even going so far as sending you into your own sort of fantasy land."

Dawn's ears perked up.

"Fantasy land? That doesn't sound so bad."

Lucien smirked.

"Not at first, No. But don't underestimate the power of these things, Kid. This little baby has been known to drive people so far into their deepest desires that they have never been able to pull themselves out of it. Believe me, I've experienced this firsthand."

Delia raised her eyebrows.

"Oh, you have, have you?"

Lucien nodded.

"The very first time I ever spent quality time with this thing it had be out of my mind for two days, I would've died of starvation if Glaceon hadn't "nudged" me awake."

He placed his hand on his Pokemon's head and began stroking him. The little Pokemon beamed with pride.

Delia glared at him again.

"Then you should know why these things should have been left _unfound. _Honestly, why would you even consider bringing those things out again?"

"For the same reason they were brought out in the first place," he said, "I'm going to finish what my father started, only this time I won't make his mistakes."

Delia stood, affronted.

"If you bring those things together again you'll be just as brainless as your father was! Nothing, NOTHING good can come from them!"

Lucien narrowed his eye at her.

"You are blinded by the failures of the past, Delia. My father may have gone wrong but his intentions were noble. Imagine how much I could change with one, unrestricted wish."

"Your father gave us that same speech. And look how that turned out."

"I am _not _my father."

"Convince me otherwise!"

"ENOUGH!" shouted Professor Oak, raising the alarm of everyone within the hospital room.

He looked around at each and every person's face. His look was so stern that even the reactionary personalities were instantly quieted.

For awhile there was no words, no sound. Just the imaginary grind of thousands of gears turning, trying to process all this new, or thought to be extinct information.

It was Misty who finally broke the silence.

"Professor?" she asked timidly. "Can I ask you something?"

The old man gave her a small smile and nodded.

"Yes, my dear. Go ahead."

"Well, all this talk of wishes and ancient Pokémon, well it's very hard to believe."

Delia chuckled.

"I know the feeling. I never would've believed any of this either if it weren't Ash's father and his overzealous lust for adventure."

Misty smiled.

_Like father, like son I guess._

"But, as unbelievable as it all sounds. I _do _believe you. I believe every word. There's just one thing I don't understand."

Delia's expression softened considerably.

"What's that, dear?"

"If all of this, all this talk of magic and wish granting, is true, why are you and Professor Oak so afraid of it?"

The silence again fell on the room almost instantly. Misty had just asked the question everyone was thinking...and now everyone was eagerly waiting on Delia and Oak for the answer.

But, Oak and Delia seemed to be far from giving them anything. Both of them now had looks of deepest regret on their face. Neither one of them wanted to look anyone in the eye.

It was Lucien who spoke next.

"Oh my God" he said "You never told her, did you?"

Delia and Oak could only stare at the floor.

Misty raised her head.

"Tell me what?"

Delia looked at her; she had the faintest trickle of tears welling in her eye.

"Misty…honey…please try and understand. We only kept this from you because we didn't want to hurt you."

Misty was on her feet, alarm in her voice.

"Tell me what? What are you talking about!?"

Ash was suddenly on his feet too, and, before he knew it, he had his hands on Misty's shoulders. She made no attempt to shrug him off.

"Misty" Delia said, tears now flowing down her cheeks, "This story…no matter how much like a fairy tale it may sound I can assure that it is anything but."

Oak nodded in agreement. "I'm afraid what Delia says is the truth. What we all witnessed the day Lucinder Halifax finally assembled all four empathy stones together is something we would all like to forget."

Lucien turned to the throng of people in the hospital room.

"Fasten your seatbelts…this is where things get hairy."

Professor gave a somber nod and continued.

"After we had collected all the stones Lucinder drug us out into the middle of the Mayan desert to an old forsaken temple, it had since been turned into a tourist attraction but Lucinder insisted that it was necessary to perform the summoning of the Wehyah. It was right when we walked into the inner sanctum that we noticed that something was very, very wrong."

Ash looked up at the wise old man.

"What happened?"

Professor Oak took a deep breath. It was evident to everyone that he had not mentioned this event to anyone for over a decade and, by tears in Delia's eyes neither had she.

"Lucinder brought us into the Inner Sanctum and showed the part of the hieroglyph translation he had left out. It seemed the summoning of the Wehyah needed not only the Empathy Stones…but also a sacrifice…a _human _sacrifice."

There were sharp intakes of breath all around the room, both and Dawn and Misty drew their hands to their mouths and Delia, topping them all, burst into tears.

"Oh, Misty" she cried "We tried to stop him; I swear we did, but he proved to be too much for all of us."

Misty lowered her hands from her face and stared at Delia. The, with a quivering lip, she asked the question, terrified of what the answer may be.

"And…who did they sacrifice?"

Oak closed his eyes; a few tears were dripping from them as well.

"Two travelers, tourists, named Myra and Sedgwick Waterflower."

**To Be Continued**

Here you are, my lovelies. I bestow upon you chapter six.

Enjoy.

Everhere Everthere


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